The Galaxy Nexus: Best Phone on the Market

Though I usually upgrade more often than every two years (thank you, family plan), when my line was up for an upgrade in July I held off. See, I heard that Android 4.0, code named Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), would be seeing the light of day in late 2011. So I waited. And it got pushed back. And I waited some more. And finally, at 8 a.m. on December 15th, I got the Galaxy Nexus: the first ICS phone.

I’ve had it for a few days now, using it almost non-stop. Here’s what I think.

The Hardware

The Galaxy Nexus, prelaunch, stood to be the best Android phone on the market, if not the best phone overall. With top of the line specs and design, a lot of people were interested to see if the phone was up to snuff.

After reading about the size of the phone, I was pretty excited by how slim and light it would be. I was a bit concerned about the width, however; it’s wider than anything I’ve used before.

The Galaxy Nexus

I’ve got to say, I’m really impressed by the way the phone feels. It’s as thin and light as I thought it would be. As for whether it’s too wide, I don’t think so (although a friend of mine disagrees). While the phone is a bit wide for the average sized hand, I feel the curve of the body lends itself to easy maneuvering. I am able to do pretty much what I want to do using only one hand.

This is a very big deal to me

This phone is super fast. It’s partially due to the 4G and the ICS improvements, but the hardware is also top notch. The dual-core processor makes running apps/doing things very snappy and the phone runs smoothly. And speaking of smooth, the screen is also beautiful. Everything moves perfectly, without lag and with some really nice animations.

The only missing thing, hardware-wise, that I wish the phone had is an expandable memory slot; but honestly with 32GB of storage there’s no need for it.

Near Field Communication

Near Field Communications (NFC) allows data to be transferred from device to device just by touching. The Galaxy Nexus has a NFC chip and can support apps that allow for it (Google Wallet notwithstanding. Thank You, Verizon Wireless). While this is still a relatively new field, I’m excited to see what app developers come up with for it. I tried it with my friend and it’s incredibly easy; you just need to get an app called Android Beam, as it seems ICS doesn’t have a stock app for general NFC use.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Okay; here’s what I’m sure you’ve been waiting for. How is ICS? In one word: astonishing. As someone who’s been using Android since the first commercial phone, I’ve seen the operating system grow a lot over the years, but ICS is far and away the most improved iteration.

Improved UI

The new interface in ICS is absolutely amazing. The animations, updated home screens, and resizable widgets make the phone super customizable (even more so than before). The improved app/widget drawer and app folders, strategically placed Market and Settings icons, and virtual buttons that change based on context make navigating Android easier than ever.

Home Screen and App/Widget Drawer

You can also access the notifications bar and camera right from the unlock screen, which I love.

What impresses me the most about the UI is the attention Google paid to typography and layout. There have been subtle (and not so subtle) improvements all throughout Android and the stock apps (dialer, contacts, calendar, messaging, and Gmail). The apps are easier to use and much more aesthetically pleasing. Nice work on Google’s part.

Added and Improved Features

ICS also has a number of added and improved features to work with. Number one on my list (and I’m sure, the list of every author on this site) is native screenshots. Just press the Power+Volume buttons together, and a screenshot is added to your gallery. Words can’t describe how much easier this review was with that ability.

The other feature I use frequently is the improved multitasking manager. Just press the right-most button (next to the home button) on the Galaxy Nexus to bring up a list of the running apps, then slide an app to the right to kill it. I love this so much; it makes managing apps a lot easier – and since I can run a lot more now without a noticeable affect on performance, this is very helpful! You can also use this area to navigate your apps: simply press on one of the apps to go to it.

Multitasking

ICS also includes a data manager, which is especially nice for a 4G phone, and especially when you’re on a network with a data cap.

You might want to check to see whether you are. If you have a plan on Verizon already, they are currently allowing you to keep your plan as-is – unlimited – with a 4G connection.

From Settings, you can get to your data manager, which will show you an adjustable graph, allowing you to change the date range to show you how much data you’ve been using over that period. It will also show you which apps you are using the most. Pressing on one of the apps will give you a breakdown of how much data it’s using relative to the total amount you’ve used. Pretty nifty, right?

The Data Manager

The Camera

One thing I really didn’t like about my Incredible was how long it took to take a picture. While 8MP is great, speed is important. The Galaxy Nexus takes care of this problem with a vengeance. The first time I used the camera I was in utter disbelief, because not only is it fast, it’s instant. There is zero shutter delay. Some people would argue that the fact that the camera is on 5MP is a detriment to the phone, but if it means having a fast camera, I will gladly take lower quality.

The Camera... and my keyboard.

Included with the camera/gallery is a photo editor that allows you to make adjustments (like fix red-eye, crop, etc) and add effects. If nothing else, it’s incredibly entertaining. Here’s what I came up with:

My brother. Or perhaps Sasquatch.

Awesome Battery Life

I’m not quite sure whether I should attribute this to the hardware or to ICS, and it’s a big enough deal to get it’s own section. The battery life is really impressive. I’ve been using it regularly from around 7:30am to 11pm or 12am and it lasts. Today has actually been most impressive as I’ve been using it for talk, text, data, games, and reading since 7:30 this morning and now, at 9:15pm, it’s still above 50% battery. Whatever Google and Samsung did clearly worked!

Final Thoughts

There’s no beating around the bush: this is easily the best phone I have ever used. From design to UI, it’s a solid device. It’s super fast, beautiful, customizable, feature packed, and it lasts. The camera works really well and NFC stands to change the way we use phones. I do not have one real complaint about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0. Could it use an expandable memory slot? Yes, but that is definitely not needed; 32GB is plenty of space for your mobile needs. I’m always reluctant to give a 10/10 for anything (I don’t think I ever have), but this phone deserves it.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon Wireless
Reviewed by Joe Casabona on
Jan 4.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 are a winning combination that create what is the best phone on the market. With speed, beauty, and a ton of features, this phone leaves little to be desired.
Rating:
10 out of
10

Related Posts

Popular Posts

http://bluehayes.me/ Mike Hayes

I’ve had the Galaxy Nexus for a while now and think both the device and ICS are absolutely brilliant. Two similar issues.

- The speaker (for loudspeaker calls, music etc) is ridiculously quiet on this device. It’s not even worth going onto loudspeaker for a call as I can hardly here the person speaking… depending on my surroundings anyway.

- The notification sounds. I don’t like to mess around, I’m not into music for ringtones etc – I’m quite happy with the default tones. However with ICS I’m seriously considering downloading some fresh tones for the device. The choice of ringtones and notification sounds is awful, they all appear to be robot (Android) related but they also suck… I was quite happy and used to my old Android 2.3 tones – I wish they were still available on ICS. Perhaps somebody should make an app for that!

All in all though, brilliant device… brilliant OS… just those two niggly issues above. I found Android 3 felt quite rushed on my Galaxy 10.1 tab, so I’m looking forward to that being upgraded to the more polished Android 4

Will

I absolutely agree with this post…except for the part about battery life. I struggle to get 6 hours and I have employed a number of battery saving techniques. (screen at about 25% brightness, only use wifi or 3g independantly as well as not synching pretty much anything.)

My screen is consistently using over 50% of my usage. I am considering buying the extended battery from samsung and using 2 battery system.

Other than that this phone is the best i have ever used.

http://www.casabona.org/blog/ Joe Casabona

That’s interesting. The only time I get “poor” battery life is when I use Google Music or Spotify for an extended period of time.

I’m using Android Assistant and do clear out some of my processes using the multitasking/swipe method. Usually the camera and any games I play, once I’m done.

Justin Brosious

Naw the Droid Razr is the best

Ben

ICS and the phone itself is REALLY great. But there are still some (not minor) things – considering the UI – that can (or have to) be improved.

Contrary to “Will”, a poster above me, I can agree that the battery life is quiet well.

I’ll give 10/10 for software, 9/10 for hardware, and maybe 5/10 for battery life. Usually I get somewhere between 12~15 hrs under moderate usage. This is a real nightmare, especially when compare to blackberry, which I had before Galaxy Nexus. I think a mobile phone should last at least 2 full days per charge. If it needs to be plugged in all the time when I get home, it’s no difference than just a landline phone.

Droidian

Oh, believe me, this is nowhere close to a nightmare, especially for Android.
All Android phones have battery lives like this. You can’t expect a smartphone to last two days these days. My Galaxy Nexus has had far better battery life than either my HTC Incredible or Samsung Charge — and that’s with the LTE left on 24/7. This device’s battery is nothing to complain about!

If you have a problem with plugging in your phone overnight, then don’t get an Android.